The rhyming of, ‘bees’, and, ‘cease’ with their, ‘ees’ sound also serve to prolong the length of the lines, allowing the reader to reflect on the preceding imagery and sounds.
The first stanza ends with a final vivid vibrant image of the, ‘o’erbrimm’d’, cells of the bees, full with nectar, which leaves the reader with a strong physical image, and this feels like a crescendo to the abundant, plentiful images of ripeness and of heavy laden trees that precede it.
In the second stanza personification is again used with the repetition of, ‘thy,’ and with Keats directly addressing autumn with, ‘thee’ and, ‘thou’, and the image of autumn as a, ‘gleaner’. We also begin to form female images of autumn by the description, ‘thy hair soft-lifted’. This stanza is also more relaxed than the first with phrases like, ‘sitting careless, sound asleep, drows’d, and, ‘with patient look’ which is in direct contrast to your expectations, as you would think that after following summer there would be countless energetic images. Even with the leisurely activities of autumn being described, the harvest is clearly nearing completion with the suggestion of the cider-presses, ‘last oozings hours by hours.’ These words also draw out the process, and serve to lengthen the stanza. Alliteration is present again with, ‘winnowing wind’ which again prolongs the image of the season.
The tender musical tones of, ‘Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music’, in the final stanza is Keats appealing for autumn to be upbeat. There is also a sense that Keats is looking back and in a period of reflection. This is followed in a melancholic manner describing the onslaught of winter with images of death, with, ‘soft-dying day’, ‘wailful choir’, ‘gnats mourn’, and, ‘as the light wind lives or dies’. The tone is then reversed by the onomatopoeia of, ‘bleat, whistles and twitter’, when describing the sounds of nature, which lifts the poem and ends the poem with an image of the season in a positive, cheerful way. The use of, ‘bloom’ and, ‘rosy hue’ also leave the reader with an almost romantic image of the landscape and sky, which again is the opposite of how autumn skies and harvested fields are usually portrayed.
Keats skillfully uses five beats per line in an iambic pentameter form to highlight the longer sounds to make the reader ponder the meaning of the words. Often the use of comma’s or semi colons are also used to prolong the effect of words at the end of lines like, ‘more’, ‘bees’ and, ‘cease’ in the first stanza and, ‘store’, and, ‘floor’, in the second stanza. The rhyming scheme in the first stanza is ABABCDEDCCE, and it slightly changes in the second and third stanza to ABABCDECDDE. This allows Keats to build the momentum in each stanza, and to lengthen or shorten the stanzas depending on the effect he wishes to create.
The interesting use of a rhyming couplet followed by another line at the end of each stanza gives the reader a sense of closure. There is also a feeling of movement through each stanza, with the first stanza focusing on activity, the second focusing on slumber, and the third focusing on finality. The three stanzas also appeal to different senses, the first being sensual, describing factual events, the second being visual, giving us imagined romantic images, and the third being aural, which justify Keats’s opinions of autumn.
The change of word order in the first stanza of, ‘thatch-eves run’ instead of, ‘run thatch-eves’, and in the third stanza of, ‘treble soft’, instead of, ‘soft treble’, cleverly allow Keats to use the respective rhyming of, ‘sun’, and, ‘croft’.
The overall effect of the poem is to leave the reader with the view that Keats strongly believes that the autumn season usually has an under valued existence and is over shadowed by the sometimes romantic images of spring. He clearly redresses the balance with his strong imagery and powerful language, which effectively take the reader through a fulfilling and wonderful experience of an autumn day, enabling the reader to also gain an insight into the poet’s mood and persona. In summary, ‘To Autumn’, is a fine poem using a myriad of techniques including personification, alliteration, aural language and imagery to convey Keats’s experiences and thoughts.
Word count 994
